Bruce's Little Problem
by the little spanko
Summary: WARNING: SPANKING! Bruce is worried he won't be able to keep the big guy contained. He seeks Tony's help. WARNING: SPANKING!
1. Chapter 1

Tony woke up excited. The construction on the new home had recently been completed, he and Pepper were getting along better than ever, his panic attacks had stopped after his friend Bruce Banner had referred him to a very good therapist and the resulting calm had inspired numerous new ideas and upgrades for him to work on in his newly built lab.

That was enough to wake up excited about, but today his bud Bruce had a meeting scheduled with him at 2pm. Tony wasn't able to needle out of his friend what the meeting was about, other than that it had nothing to do with the Avengers or S.H.I.E.L.D. Intrigued, Tony had images of new scientific discoveries dancing in his head. Thankfully, he didn't have to wait long for 2pm to get here.

Bruce arrived fifteen minutes early, shuffling unconfidently to the front door. Tony watched his friend: well dressed but slightly disheveled looking, gaze locked to the ground, the occasional rub to the back of the neck, face working as though he were receiving an internal reprimanding. _Same as always_, Tony snorted to himself, cheerily going to meet Bruce in the entryway.

"Hey," Bruce said unhappily to him in the entryway as he looked around and then watched idly as Jarvis scanned him.

"Hey yourself," Tony answered, taking in Bruce's gaze. "Like it?"

"Mmm," Bruce answered distractedly, though he was grinning in admiration.

"Wanna see the lab?" Tony asked playfully, bouncing on his heels.

"Is it private?"

"Well….yea," Tony answered, blinking in confusion. "...if you don't mind Jarvis. Pepper's at work."

"I don't mind," Bruce answered quietly and then waited expectantly.

"...Ok then," Tony said after an awkward silence. "This way," he called over his shoulder as he led the way to the lab.

He tried to show some of the new advances he'd created in the home along the way, but quickly realized that Bruce was barely even glancing at what he was talking about. His friend's gaze was pretty much firmly planted on the ground.

Entering the lab, Tony spun around with his arms outstretched and said "Here it is - secret lair" in a somewhat flat tone. He watched Bruce give an obligatory grin and then watched him take a cursory look around.

"So. You wanna…"

"There's a reason I wanted to come today," Bruce cut him off.

"Figured that out," Tony piped in. "What's up?"

Bruce scowled at him.

"You said it didn't have anything to do with S.H.I.E.L.D. or the Avengers, there's been no news of a big green guy redecorating cities, you seemed pretty ok with the aliens thing - so what's up?" Tony asked brightly, flopping onto a rolling chair and sliding to a work table. "Trouble keeping a handle on things?"

Bruce quirked his mouth to the side in irritation and glared at him.

"Oh. Wait. You had an entire speech prepared for me, didn't you?"

Bruce huffed and grinned in irritation the floor. "I did."

Tony nodded. "Was it long and drawn out? It seemed like it was gonna be long and drawn out. ...But I'm not wrong about what's up, am I?"

"No," Bruce sighed, "you're not wrong."

"Kay," Tony thought for a moment, concern clear on his face, "so what changed?"

"Things are going well."

Tony made a face, "And that's bad?"

"I need to always have anger in me," Bruce explained. "Things are going well. Really well. I'm feeling more guilty than angry…"

"...Remember the whole 'I'm not that kind of doctor' thing a few months back?" Tony butt in.

"Tony…"

"I'm just sayin'..."

"Tony…"

"If you don't have the temperament for this, I don't know why you think I would."

Bruce closed his eyes and lowered his head in defeat.

"I could be wrong," Tony said quickly, slightly panicked. "I could...maybe…"

Chuckling lightly, Bruce looked at him and shook his head.

"So, the guilt is making you lose control?"

"I'm afraid it will, eventually, that with things going so well…"

"Harder to be always angry," Tony cut in.

Bruce inclined his head, "That's right."

"Kay, so...what are you wanting to do about it? Self sabotage?"

"No," Bruce laughed good naturedly. "What I _need_. I...what I was hoping… ...what I want from you…"

Tony shook his head in impatience as his friend stammered on nervously. It didn't take long for Tony to interrupt, "What _exactly_ could I do to help?"

Bruce gave him a deer in headlights look, and Tony tilted his head to the side sarcastically.

"This is going faster than I'd…"

"What are you up to, Banner?" Tony asked curiously.

"I don't want to lose control. I don't want to be respons…"

"Yea, caught that. How do I fit into this?"

Bruce's mouth worked silently.

"Bruuuuce," Tony cooed.

Bruce dropped his head and mumbled something at his shoes.

"What…" Tony started again.

"_Can't we just slow this down?_" Bruce all but pleaded, slumping into a chair at another table.

"Kay," Tony said, wondering how to do that when it was clear Bruce wasn't interested in talking about anything other than the reason he was visiting.

The two men sat opposite each other, looking anywhere else but at each other. Tony was beginning to get really creeped out, and he began thinking of what'd it be like if Bruce really did lose control again.

"I need help," Bruce told him suddenly in a barely audible whisper.

"Ok, what kind of help?" Tony said nervously, finally realizing how serious this talk was.

Bruce took a deep breath, "I need something not to look forward to. ...and, I dunno, maybe it'd help with my guilt."

"What would?"

"I need you to hurt me," Bruce blurted out, locking eyes with Tony and then staring at the floor once more.

"Hurt you? Hurt you how?...wouldn't that make the big guy…"

"Y'know, how Steve and Thor…" Bruce shrugged towards Tony.

Tony's eyes went wide, "You want me to **spank** you?!"

Bruce scrunched up his face and shook his head in irritation, holding his hands up as though to shush Tony.

Tony was relieved, "You **_don't_**want me to sp…"

"No, I do," Bruce interrupted with his eyes closed, face still scrunched.

"Wait wait, hoooooo," Tony said in a rush. "Isn't that gonna, you know, make the big guy come out?" He made a monster sound and flexed his muscles, mimicking Bruce's transformation into the Hulk.

"I can control it," Bruce said quietly, the slightest hint of a grin on his face over Tony's antics.

"Yea but you just told me…"

"I can control it," Bruce insisted.

"You better," Tony said as he fiddled with a screwdriver on a work table. "I don't think Pepper'd approve of coming home to me smooshed on the floor."

"Is that a yes, then," Bruce asked, and his tone was so childishly hopeful that Tony stopped his constant fidgeting and looked at him directly.

"Why me? Why not Thor or Steve?" Tony asked, and Bruce gave him a disdainful look and tilted his head in a way that'd rival a surly teenager, and so Tony continued, "I'm not exactly the disciplinarian type, you know. And I'm not doing it in my suit…"

"_Why not?_" Bruce interrupted, his eyes going a bit wide in what Tony couldn't distinguish between concern for his safety or disappointment.

Tony exhaled sharply and looked at Bruce from under his lashes, "I think you know I've been upended myself a number of times…" he said, his mind racing over the instances he'd been spanked by various members of the team, often times it was barely even a private setting. One time in particular included Bruce being hastily pushed from the lab at S.H.I.E.L.D., and Tony was reasonably certain Bruce had witnessed the entire thing. He waited until Bruce inclined his head before he continued, "...that's where you got this idea in the first place…" again he waited until Bruce inclined his head once more, "...and I'm telling you that it meant more and had more of an effect when it was done certain ways. So if you're serious and if we're doing this…"

"I'm **serious**, I need…"

Tony held up his hand with an authoritative look on his face that quieted Bruce immediately, "..._**if**_we're doing this then we're doing it **my** way, and that means with no suit and you over my lap." Tony folded his arms over his chest and looked Bruce in the eye, waiting to see what he'd think of that.

Bruce looked at Tony with a blank expression for a moment, and then his brow knit together and he began chewing his lower lip. He made a few unhappy noises in the back of his throat before taking on the look of a sad puppy as he gazed up at Tony with his large brown eyes.

Tony shook his head and raised an eyebrow, and Bruce huffed and looked to the ground.

"Ok," he told Tony in a small, defeated tone.

"Ok," Tony answered back assuredly. Then his eyes darted around in an anxious sort of a way, "Do we need to do this _now_?"

Bruce closed his eyes and lowered his head. "Yeesssss," he answered in a whiny, dour tone that Tony'd never heard from the other man before.

Tony blinked rapidly at Bruce, "I think you better calm yourself down first."

"I'm not gonna change," Bruce hissed back.

"Watch that tone," Tony found himself scolding, and he furrowed his brow at how quickly he'd adjusted to the role Bruce sought in him. Even more surprising was Bruce's reaction to those three little words.

Bruce flinched and then sunk in on himself, guilty expression pasted across his features as he stared at his shoes. He looked like a chastised schoolboy.

"Bruce," Tony said in a stern tone, enjoying this new situation he found himself in.

Bruce tilted his head up just enough to look at Tony.

Tony chuckled at the look of dread on Bruce's face. He crooked a finger at him. "I think it's time we got started," he told him cheerily.

Bruce leaned his head backwards and looked at the ceiling. "Why did I come to _you_," he sulked.

"I dunno. You still haven't answered that question," Tony answered a-matter-of-factly while hopping up and walking to the only wheeless chair in the lab. Sitting in it, he fired a lewd smile at Bruce and patted his knee.

Bruce slumped, closed his eyes and gave a pathetic moan, then pushed himself up from his chair petulantly and began shuffling slowly towards Tony. Tony's lip quirked at the pout that had formed on Bruce's face; he was accustomed to being the one who acted like a child. Seeing someone else do so was incredibly funny to him, and Tony had to steel his face and remind himself how important this situation really was.

Failing to help his friend could mean hundreds would die and could mentally damage Bruce beyond repair. Tony didn't believe in failing, and so he cleared his throat and fixed Bruce with a severe look, "Stop stalling? Get yourself over here."

Bruce gave him a hesitant look from under his brow for a moment and then nodded, walking to Tony at a quicker pace. He stopped at Tony's side, looking much calmer and seemingly awaiting further instruction.

"Undo those," Tony said, pointing at Bruce's crotch, and Bruce silently obliged, unbuttoning and unzipping his pants and then standing still once more.

Tony nodded and then waved his hand over his lap, indicating that Bruce was to lay over it. When all Bruce did was shuffle and twitch nervously where he stood, Tony gave a slight huff and gently took hold of Bruce's wrist.

Bruce tensed, but before he could pull away Tony caught him dead by looking him straight in the eye and saying, "You're gonna have to do your part too, man."

"Yea….I know," Bruce answered in a shaky tone. Letting out a long breath, he lowered himself over Tony's lap, squirming to try to find a comfortable position.

Ever impatient, Tony sighed and pulled his awkward friend to his hip and then wrapped his arm around him, locking the smaller man in place.

Feeling Bruce again tense, Tony patted his thigh and said "Calm down, we haven't even gotten to the good part" in a cheery tone. He smirked when Bruce actually did relax over his lap at that.

Now that it was go time Tony faltered. He'd never been in the driver's seat of a spanking before. He cleared his throat and then asked, "Cozy?"

"Not really," Bruce answered sarcastically, though Tony could hear the unease in his voice.

"Yea, well… Ready to begin?"

Bruce grunted and huffed in answer. Tony found it irritating. This entire thing had been Bruce's idea.

Tony swatted him hard, "_Ready to begin?_"

"_Ow_," Bruce flinched and then glared back at Tony.

Tony waited, giving Bruce another chance to answer. All Bruce did was look at him like a hurt puppy. _Well, a cranky hurt puppy_, Tony thought to himself. Rolling his eyes, Tony swatted him again. "We're not really starting until I get an…"

"Yes, alright? I'm ready," Bruce hissed at him.

"What did I tell your naughty butt about that tone, young man," Tony shot back with a smirk, landing another harsh swat that caused Bruce to suck in his breath.

Bruce glared at him again, but Tony could see the humor in his eyes.

"Hmmph," Bruce hummed in answer, facing forward and relaxing over Tony's lap once more.

"Bruce," Tony cooed, "I expect answers to my questions."

Bruce sighed and answered, "Watch my tone."

"Good boy," Tony goaded.

"You're really annoying," Bruce told him dryly.

"Isn't that the point?" Tony asked him brightly.

Bruce huffed.

Tony swatted each sit spot and enjoyed how Bruce yipped and danced over his lap each time.

"Yes, that's the point!" Bruce said, and then hissed out an 'ow.' "Partially anyway," Bruce added as an afterthought.

"What're the other points? The pain and guilt?" Tony asked, landing swats two at a time in each spot before moving on.

"Partially - _ah_ - can we not…" Bruce hissed, a slight edge to his voice.

"Oh, we're talking about this," Tony said over Bruce's pained voice.

Bruce ducked his head and made an irritated noise. "Just forget I said…"

"Would you just," Tony shook his head, "it's like pulling teeth here. Tell me what the hell is going on."

Bruce turned his face away and didn't answer.

Tony lost what little patience he had and tipped Bruce forward. He knew it was a little soon to do so, _but really, that was Bruce's fault_ he reasoned. Tony let his hand fly, landing harsh swats to Bruce's sit spots at a rapid pace.

Bruce let out a strangled cry and then tensed his body, squeezing his eyes shut, hoping to ride this out.

Seeing just how difficult Bruce intended on being spiked Tony's irritation even more. "Kay Bruce, you wanna push me…" he said, grabbing Bruce's pants and yanking them down.

"_Don't_ - I don't want to talk about…"

"Don't care. Lift up," Tony ground out, having Bruce's pants nearly past his ass.

"Tony," Bruce argued.

Tony responded with two well aimed swats to Bruce's thighs, and each was rewarded with a frantic 'AH!'.

Bruce huffed loudly as he lifted up, "You better be careful…"

"Or _what_? I thought you said you had control," Tony chided belligerently, he had Bruce's pants down to his knees lightning fast. Tony was a bit surprised to see how reddened Bruce already was, and he wondered if his own skin reddened even more quickly under the hand of Thor and Cap.

"I do!" Bruce bit back.

"Oh, so you're just trying to threaten me - got it," Tony took aim at the little white briefs over his lap and let his hand fly, putting more strength behind the swats as he grit his teeth.

"No, wait - _ow_! OW!" Bruce's legs kicked out behind him at the increased pain, and his body jutted forward with each connection.

Tony shook his head, "You ask me to help you, tell me I'm safe, won't answer my questions and then you threaten me?! I'm helping you like you asked and _you __**threaten**__ me!_" Tony's voice rose until he was yelling. "No, if you've got control then you're taking this - _all of it_. If you wanted to piss me off well you've done it, buddy!"

Bruce swung his head around to look up at Tony, looking almost shocked, and certainly ashamed, by what Tony had said. Then with true remorse in his voice, "I'm sorry - _ah_ - I didn't mean…"

"I don't know what else you could've meant to do," Tony scolded angrily.

Bruce's eyes shone with tears, "I just wanted to avoid - OW! Tony wait! I just...**OW**!"

"Wait why, am I in danger?" Tony asked, slowing down.

"Nooo!" Bruce squalled in a put out tone. "I just…"

"You didn't wanna answer my questions, so you resorted to threats," Tony ground out, speeding back up.

"I'll tell you! Owwhowhow! Just stop - OW - for a minute," Bruce begged.

Tony stopped. "Tell me then."

Bruce huffed and puffed as he tried to catch his breath, and every now and then he whimpered.

"I don't hear any explaining," Tony warned.

"Just give me a minute," Bruce griped. "_Ah_!" he cried out from a sharp slap his his left sit spot. "**Ok**," he huffed and then stalled again. "_Ow_, I came to you because you accepted me, ok?" Bruce reached a hand back to try and rub some of the sting out of his right sit spot, but Tony slapped his hand away.

"Hands in front," Tony admonished. "Keep talking."

"Everyone else was wary when they met me," Bruce told him. "You were excited. You weren't scared, you wanted to be friends - you never judged me. You respected me," Bruce said pitifully.

"Still do," Tony said.

Bruce chuckled at that as though he found that hard to believe. Then he continued, "I knew you got, _you know_ - I saw Steve do it to you that day in the lab. You'd know how far to go."

"Worse than you thought?" Tony asked with a smirk.

"Loads," Bruce admitted, wiping sweat from his forehead.

"Is it helping?"

"I've been angry pretty much the entire time."

"Good, well let's see how you deal with this," Tony said, grabbing the waist of Bruce's briefs.

"Tony _don't_," Bruce whined. "C'mon," he yelled when Tony started pulling his briefs down.

"Hey, this is an important part. Thor and Steve do this to me - you wanted the full experience, right?"

"I don't remember saying that!" Bruce answered caustically, starting to struggle.

"Ah ah, you fight me and I'll use my belt," Tony warned.

Bruce stilled, though he turned and glared at Tony, "This is _not_ what we agreed to."

"Too bad," Tony said, successfully pushing the briefs out of the way, "it's what you're getting."

Bruce growled, and Tony looked at him warily for a moment until he realized he was safe. He then looked at Bruce's cheeks, they were bright red. _They're about to get redder_, Tony thought as he raised his hand.

Bruce mewled before Tony even brought his hand down, and, as soon as the swat landed, Bruce bucked over Tony's lap, a strand of his hair falling into his eyes. "AHHHH!" Bruce yelled, and if he wasn't so slight in build, Tony would of thought Bruce was resorting to theatrics.

They went on this way for some time, Bruce's voice growing louder and hoarser until finally his voice began to crack with the first hints of an impending sob.

Tony was about to land another swat when Bruce kicked his feet up.

"Bruuce…" Tony warned.

"No more, please Tony," Bruce said in a broken voice.

Tony sighed, not sure for a moment whether to continue or not. He made up his mind pretty quickly.

"Normally I'd let you up. We started this to help you, not punish you - but then you went and threatened me," Tony explained, irritation rising in his voice, "and you've been a little shit the entire time, Banner…"

"I'm sorry about that," Bruce insisted wetly. "I won't don't it again, I promise."

"Good, but I don't think I'd be doing my job if I let it slide. We've got a bit more to go, buddy."

Bruce ducked his head and let out a whine that caused Tony to shake his head.

"Come on, it won't be that bad," Tony lied.

Bruce snorted, "Oh yea, because all of it up to this point has been easy. Right."

"Well, ok, it's gonna be bad - but you'll get through it. Ready?" Tony asked, raising his right knee.

"**_No_**," Bruce spat flippantly, "Tony ...OW! AHH OWWW!" Bruce thrashed over Tony's knees, twisting and turning from the pain.

"Are you gonna threaten me ever again?" Tony lectured playfully in a snide voice.

"NO! OW, I promise, OWW!" Bruce yelled, his face scrunched up in pain.

"You better not, mister, you won't like what'll happen," Tony warned him.

"It _hurts_!" Bruce yelled over his shoulder, tears spilling down his cheeks.

"Yea, I know," Tony responded, not letting up.

Bruce began kicking his legs from the pain.

"Think you can be a good boy now?"

"Yes!" Bruce cried out, grabbing Tony's knee tightly with both hands.

"Ok," Tony said, wringing his hand out to the side. "We're done."

Bruce tried to climb off Tony's lap, but failed, and so he laid there whimpering and sniffling for a moment.

Tony patted him on the back, "You're ok."

Still trying to get his breathing under control, Bruce looked over his shoulder at Tony, "If you call this ok, you're _nuts_."

Tony giggled at that, which caused Bruce to chuckle wryly and shake his head.

Tugging on the band of the briefs, Tony began "Want me to…."

"I got that," Bruce snapped at him, skittering up off Tony's lap clumsily. He delicately took a reddened globe in each hand and rubbed.

"Watch that tone," Tony warned.

Bruce looked at Tony warily and yanked up his briefs, hissing in pain. He then quickly pulled up and fastened his pants as Tony stood.

Tony attempted to pat Bruce's shoulder, but the petulant man would have none of it.

"Get offa me," Bruce snapped at him, pushing Tony away and swiping his forearm over his eyes.

Tony tsked at him, wrapped an arm around Bruce's neck and pulled his face into his shoulder. Bruce, for his part, kept the contact as minimal as possible with his hands behind him cupping his sore bottom, huffing into Tony's shoulder.

"This is important," Tony told him, making a face and not really enjoying the contact either. He squeezed the back of Bruce's neck gently and then let him go.

Bruce stood with his head lowered, pain still showing in his face and a hand holding each cheek. Tony watched, grin on his face, as Bruce tried to level out his breathing.

"So, I'll make time to do this weekly."

Bruce's head shot up, mouth agape.

"Weekly?!" Bruce cried, "No, I don't want it weekly..."

"I don't care what you _want_," Tony told him sternly, "now, doesn't that just piss you off?" Tony asked him with a smirk.

Bruce worked his mouth into an irritated pout.

"And remember, that's just if you're _good_. Bad boys get spanked, you know, so if you're bad it's more than once a week," Tony said with a sly smile.

The annoyance on Bruce's face was extremely entertaining to Tony, and he didn't bother to hide his giggle. Tony half expected him to argue that it wasn't fair, but he didn't. Instead Tony watched the wheels turn in Bruce's mind, and then his face relaxed into the normal expression that Tony had come to know.

Finally Bruce huffed and shot Tony a sideways glance. "I appreciate what you're doing."

"I appreciate you trusting me," Tony said, "...not that I appreciate you coming to me with this, but, you know..."

"Oh thanks."

"Would you wanna do this for **me**?" Tony asked.

"Right now? _Yeah_."

"Too bad, that waiting list is pretty long."

Bruce was quiet for a moment and then asked, "What about monthly instead?"

"You're getting it weekly," Tony insisted. "That's final. Get over it."

Bruce looked at the floor, brooding.

"C'mon, let me show you around," Tony waved his arm around the lab. He was beyond done with this situation for now.

Bruce looked up from under his lashes, unable to deny his curiosity.

Tony chattered away, full of excitement about ideas he was working on. Bruce couldn't withstand the storm for long, adding his own ideas and insights. Soon, the reason for the visit was forgotten and both men got lost in friendly companionship.

Before they knew it, Pepper appeared. "Look at you two," she said happily, "you both look like you've had a nice day."

Her head turned to the side at the snorts the two men gave.

"Bruce, will you be staying for dinner?" she asked.

"He will," Tony said before Bruce was able to decline. "He'll be joining us once a week for dinner," Tony shot a grin at Bruce, "maybe more," he shrugged, "usually once."

Bruce gave Tony a surprised look.

Pepper blinked rapidly, smiling in confusion. She knew there was a joke that she wasn't in on, but she didn't mind. "Well, it'll be nice having you over so much, Bruce."

Bruce gave a tight grin, "Yea, I'm sure."

Tony raised his brow.

"Thanks," Bruce added, inclining his head at Pepper.

Pepper gave them both a look and then laughed. "Well hurry up, I'm starved," she said on her way out of the lab.

"Well, you heard her," Tony said.

Bruce laughed, "We don't want to make her angry?"

Tony played it up, "Nope, never a good idea."


	2. Chapter 2

It had been 7 days. Tony hadn't seen or heard from Bruce since the day things had gone down. _Six days, no contact,_ Tony thought. Normally that wouldn't of seemed odd - both he and Bruce led busy lives. _Ok, __**I'm **__the one with the busy life_ -_ Bruce sucks at keeping in touch_. Tony was usually just too busy to notice.

It was five til two in the afternoon. Tony paced in the entryway. They had agreed to keep the same time on the same day each week - _well, ok, I told Bruce that's how it was gonna be_ - and last week Bruce had been early. But that was before...

It was stressful agreeing to discipline your friend, especially knowing that if you didn't, your friend could accidentally take out a city. There was no shortage of stress in Tony's life these days, and he didn't mind adding this to the mix. But now he was feeling like he couldn't breath, and his chest felt awfully tight. _Where is he?! _

_Breathe, Tony. _He went to his lab and tinkered. Sort of.

Minutes ticked by as Tony kept checking the time: 1:56, 1:57, 1:58…. "Jarvis, any sign of him?"

"No sir, shall I locate him?"

"You know it," Tony said, walking to his suit. He was certain that Bruce was someplace far away.

"Sir, I've set a flight plan for Bolivia," Jarvis' voice rang out.

"Bolivia?" _Banner, what are you up to? _

"Yes, S.H.I.E.L.D. has a current location on him, as of ten min…"

"Where is he?"

"Abuna, Bolivia, sir."

Tony felt a wave of anger flash over him, and he grit his teeth.

"You really think you can hide from me?" He stepped into his suit and took off for Bolivia.

* * *

Bruce looked at his watch and then scanned the sky. _7:30pm. _ He took a deep breath. He was suspicious of the fishing boat up river, wondering if S.H.I.E.L.D. spies were keeping tabs on him. _But then, maybe that's a little paranoid. _He'd proven his ability to keep his problem under control, though if they had any idea of his recent concerns he'd have more than just a possible tail.

Letting his focus fall back on where to put his booted feet, he caught up with the eighty year old kallawaya, or medicine man, who easily outpaced him. Aniceto had agreed to give him the most basic understanding of Bolivian traditional medicine, and in fact had told Bruce that he was welcome to stay as long as he liked. ...but Bruce only needed a temporary diversion.

Bruce had been in Abuna for two days, and was already growing sick of it. It was hot, humid and mosquito infested. _Come on, Banner, you're just angry you had to run away, _he told himself. _This isn't so bad. _He'd always wanted to see the Bolivian side of the Amazon, and this seemed like a good time to do so.

Aniceto had been at the dock when Bruce arrived, almost as though he were waiting for Bruce. The old man had walked right up to him, big smile on his face, and took Bruce home with him. As the trip was spur of the moment, Bruce hadn't had the foresight to make any preparations, and so he considered himself lucky to of met Aniceto. This was before he realized the old man hiked 5 miles a day through the jungle.

He had to admit, the population relying on this form of health care did seem healthy. He was also already able to identify the most basic three plants involved in the traditional Bolivian medicine. The trip wasn't a bust, no matter his current attitude.

"Keep up," Aniceto told him with a patient smile, probably for the twentieth time that day.

"Right behind you," Bruce griped. "Do you have to walk so fast?"

"There's a lot to do, keep up," Aniceto told him.

"I thought we were going home for the night."

"Keep up."

Bruce huffed and tried to quicken his pace. The fact that the warm smile never left Aniceto's face made the entire situation even more irritating.

"Here it is," Aniceto said. He stooped and said some words above a plant, then he picked three sections off of it. The plant was like an aloe vera, and it oozed a yellow goo that Aniceto squeezed into half of a large nutshell. He pulled out a fern-looking plant they'd picked earlier and added it to the mix. He handed it to Bruce and made a stirring motion.

Bruce gave the old man a placating look and stirred the mixture. "Now what?"

Aniceto took the half shell from Bruce and wrapped it in a leaf so that the mixture wouldn't spill, and then he tied it together like a tight little package. He handed it back to Bruce, "For later." Then he turned and began walking away, waving to Bruce as he went.

Bruce looked at Aniceto quizzically for a moment, then began following him.

"No," Aniceto told him, waving both hands at Bruce, "you stay here."

"I thought I could stay with you as long as I liked," Bruce called after him helplessly. _Where the hell am I going to sleep tonight? _

"You can," Aniceto told him.

That's when Bruce heard a familiar noise. It was a noise he really didn't want to be hearing, and his stomach clenched in dread.

Aniceto pointed to the package in Bruce's hand and then pointed to his ass and nodded. Bruce had been unnerved a number of times the past couple days by Aniceto, and knew he should especially be unnerved by the old man's current insight, but he was a little too preoccupied trying to come up with a reasonable story as to why he was in the Amazon rainforest and not in Tony's lab.

"So Bruce, whatcha doing?" Tony asked congenially. He landed a few feet in front of Bruce, hands on his hips.

Bruce drew his brow together and watched Tony with unease.

"Nice vacation spot," Tony said, stepping over a large snake. "Yea, I can see why you had to rush out here. You know, I look for malaria in all my vacation spots, too."

Bruce looked at the package in his hand and then stuffed it in his pocket. He took a step backwards and bumped into a tree.

Tony walked up to him, and Bruce could have sworn the helmet was glaring at him. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Tony ground out. He then knocked a large spider off Bruce's shoulder. Bruce flinched and glared at the spider as it crawled away.

"Ok, I'm sorry. I should have been there today - but remember, I never agreed to weekly," Bruce said.

"You did, actually," Tony cut in. "I said, 'See you next week, same time' - you nodded."

Bruce sighed. He _had _nodded. It had been a derisive nod, but looking at Tony, he didn't think that'd matter right about now.

"Little dramatic, don'cha think?"

Bruce looked into the air thoughtfully, "What was it you told me to do? ….strut?"

"This would be hiding," Tony said.

Bruce pressed his lips together. He knew Tony was right. "I've been feeling better since last week, I don't think…"

"You really gonna do this?" Tony butt in. "When you _know _what's at stake. _Really._"

Bruce lowered his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Take the helmet off if you're gonna yell at me," Bruce grumbled.

Tony complied, but scolded, "Oh no, Mr Sneakypants, you don't get to be cranky."

Bruce made an offended and put out face at the name, rolling his eyes at how ridiculous it was. "_Sneakyp…_"

"You're in enough trouble as it is, you wanna bad attitude on your list?"

That perked Bruce up. "What do you mean my 'list'?" he asked with big nervous brown eyes.

Tony gave him an exasperated look that said, '_seriously?_' "What did I tell you last week?"

"A lot of nutty stuff I didn't agree with…"

"I warned you once, Banner," Tony said. "Bad attitude. Tell me what happens to bad boys."

Bruce ducked his head, a sour look on his face. He preferred Tony having a smirk on his face when he said stuff like that to him. "Tony," he started in a moan.

"I don't wanna hear it. You know, I hadn't had a panic attack since Mandarin…"

"_You had a panic attack?_"

Now Tony looked a little uncomfortable. "Yeah. Your fault. You know better."

"How was I…" Bruce stopped and really looked at Tony and realized his friend looked pretty fried. Bruce held up his hands, "Ok, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to panic you."

"Worst excuse ever," Tony said. "No way you didn't know I'd be worried."

Bruce's shoulders slumped and he heaved a great sigh. _True_, he thought to himself. Looking up at Tony from under his brow he asked, "What happens now?"

"Now you get your weekly," Tony raised his brow, "and then tomorrow you get your punishment."

Bruce smiled warily, "You're not…." his smile faltered, "...you're serious, aren't you?"

"Yup." Tony gave him a look, daring him to argue.

Bruce closed his eyes. "Is there anyway…"

"Nope."

Bruce looked at Tony with big, sad eyes.

"Not gonna work," Tony told him. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand.

"Where are we…"

"Home. Say goodbye to your little friend," Tony said, nodding at Aniceto. "Bye bye," Tony waved.

Aniceto laughed and waved back.

"We're gonna fly?" Bruce asked tightly.

"Yea. Don't worry, it'll be fun," Tony said brightly. He wriggled the fingers of his outstretched hand.

"Oh yea, sounds like a great time," Bruce groaned, wrapping his hand around the package of medicine in his pocket. "Hurtling through the air and then get my ass beat. Twice, no less. Fun."

"Enough complaining," Tony took ahold of him and they were in the air in under a second.

Bruce squawked at take off, surprised by the g-force. "Tony," he said. "Tony! I don't like this!"

"Don't like as in mildly perturbed, or don't like as in 'I'm going to turn big and green?'"

"Are we flying the entire way like this?"

"_No_. There's an airport five minutes away," Tony said, surprised Bruce would be asking him this. It'd take about six hours to fly home. He wouldn't put Bruce through that, no matter how irritated he was with him, big guy or not.

Bruce gave him a relieved look. "I'm ok."

Tony flew east into Brazil and, seeing a large expanse of cleared rainforest, decided to set them both down. It was clearly a logging area where about a five acre stretch had been cleared. All that was left were dead branches and large stumps baked in the hot sun.

"What're we doing?" Bruce asked once they were landed, looking around and wringing his hands.

Tony stepped out of the suit and looked at him.

"We're doing this _here_?" Bruce asked, his voice an octave higher. He backed up, stumbling over branches and old roots.

Tony found a nice sized tree stump and made sure there was no dangerous wildlife nearby. He sat down and waved Bruce over. "C'mon."

"Can't we…"

"It'll be midnight before we're home, Pepper'll be there," Tony said, "besides, a nice long flight on a sore ass'll do you good."

"I don't need…"

"Okay, if you finish that sentence," Tony narrowed his eyes.

Bruce actually pouted, his lip protruding while his eyes flashed in irritation and desperation.

"Sure seems like you're fighting me," Tony said. "Remember what I said would happen…"

Bruce was at his side in a flash. "Don't," he pleaded, undoing his chinos without having to be told.

_Someone doesn't want the belt_, Tony thought. _Good to know_.

Tony grabbed Bruce's wrist and pulled him over his lap. Bruce went over easily, and that quelled some of Tony's irritation.

"Every [swat] week [swat]," Tony ground out.

Bruce flinched with each sharp swat, and made a quiet mewling sound in the back of his throat.

Tony's mind went in another direction now that Bruce was compliant. _Did he run because this isn't helping? _He knew - though he'd never admit it to Thor or Steve - that getting spanked helped him - _Which is __**good**__, not like I have much of a say in it _- but maybe Bruce was different.

"How'd you feel after, you know, last time?" Tony asked, not landing any more spanks after the first two.

Bruce fidgeted over Tony's lap for a moment before looking back at him. The look on his face showed his confusion. "Sore," he said in a somewhat unsure and uncomfortable voice.

Tony rolled his eyes. "Yea. After that."

Bruce twisted his mouth, and Tony's suspicions were realized. It'd done Bruce good, but Bruce wasn't willing to admit that. Tony was relieved and his determination was reset.

Tony started spanking again.

"Yeow! _I'm thinking!_" Bruce yelled, face scrunched. "Just give me a minute!"

"Oh, you answered me," Tony chuckled.

Bruce scowled up at him, blinking as each swat connected. After a moment, he made an irritated noise as he clenched his fists and turned away to face forward.

Tony knew then he'd done the right thing.

This was working, and it pissed Bruce off. There was still the question of how often, but they'd figure it out. Weekly still felt right to Tony.

Bruce was beginning to make pained little noises now, interspersed with a growl here and there.

"Hey, what do you think you're growling at?"

Bruce looked back with narrowed eyes.

"Oh, we're back to this game? Okay," Tony smacked Bruce's left sit spot hard.

"Ow! No - I'll ans...OW!" Bruce wailed. "Wait! This is irri - Ow - tating, that's why I was growling! _Ah!_"

"See? Was that so hard?"

The look on Bruce's face was somewhere between stunned and exasperated. "You are just _pushing _me."

"You threatening me again?"

"No!" Bruce yelled.

"Yea, well, you need pushing." Tony spanked in a steady rhythm.

Bruce groaned. "Yea," he admitted quietly, head slung low.

Tony continued to spank, and soon Bruce began squirming over his lap. Little involuntary movements by the body to try and get away from the pain. Tony got a better grip on Bruce and pulled him in closer. The noises emanating from Bruce became more and more desperate, and his voice high.

"It hurts."

"Supposed to."

Bruce whined pitifully.

"Phase two," Tony said, yanking Bruce's chinos down.

"_Tony!_"

The skin peeking out from the heather gray briefs was a deep shade of red, as were the sit spots. Tony decided to color the tops of the thighs as well.

Bruce didn't seem to appreciate the effort.

"AH!" Bruce wailed.

Tony held him tighter, Bruce had nearly jumped off his lap.

"OWW!"

Bruce nearly kicked Tony in the head with the second spank to his thighs.

"Hey, watch those feet!"

"Sorry," Bruce said, crossing his feet and lowering them. "It hurts."

"I know, but this is about you keeping control," Tony said.

"I won't kick you," Bruce told him.

Tony watched Bruce for a moment, and then suddenly began spanking Bruce's thighs again. True to his word, Bruce kept his feet down, though he did twitch and wail at every painful smack.

"Where are you going?" Tony asked when Bruce tried to gently slink off his lap after the fortieth spank to each of the back of his thighs.

A little out of breath by this point, Bruce rasped out, "No more...please."

"Now Bruce, we haven't even gotten to phase three yet," Tony said in a pleasant tone.

Bruce whimpered.

Tony looked over his work. Bruce's thighs were glowing halfway down the back of his legs. In some areas there were collections of squiggly red lines. It was time to move on.

Tony took aim at the full globes over his lap and brought his hand down hard.

Bruce let out a throaty "AHHHHH" and then gulped air.

"Every…" Tony started.

"Every week!" Bruce yipped obediently, face scrunched up in pain.

"That's better," Tony said. He landed the swats all over Bruce's ass, and soon Bruce was rolling back and forth in an effort to avoid Tony's stinging hand.

"Be still."

Bruce growled at him.

"Phase three."

"NO!"

Tony had the briefs down quickly, and wasted no time in resuming the spanking. Bruce's bottom was a deep red, and it was beginning to get the same red squiggle lines as his thighs.

"NOO! OWWW! IT HURTS, I'M SORRY!" Bruce yelled, trying to push off of Tony's lap.

"I told you to be still," Tony scolded, irritation plain in his voice. "Focus on controlling yourself."

"OW! You don't have to - AH! - hit so - OWWW - hard!" Bruce yelled at him in an accusatory tone, brow knit together and eyes shiny.

"Yes I do," Tony said, as though Bruce were very thick.

For the next few minutes the only sounds were the spanking and Bruce's cries of pain.

"I'm sorry about the panic attack," Bruce said suddenly. "Please stop."

"We're not talking about that."

"You're not - OW - going to yell at me about running?" Bruce asked wetly.

"Tomorrow," Tony said. "You can squirm til then. This is just your weekly."

"_Tony_," Bruce whimpered.

"It'll be worse, too," Tony said. "Punishment spankings always will be."

Bruce made a squeaking noise and his shoulders started to move up and down. It was obvious that he'd broken into silent tears, and he curled into himself. _Good_, Tony thought to himself, _he __**should **__be upset_.

But after a minute or two of listening to Bruce sniffle and try to keep his crying quiet, Tony caved. He knew he'd been sufficiently tough on Bruce, he didn't want to be outright mean.

Besides, his hand was killing him.

"Okay, all done," Tony said happily. He patted Bruce on the back twice.

Bruce, who'd spent the past few minutes with his face buried in his arms, wiped at his face. He sniffled repeatedly and tried to level out his ragged breathing.

"Plane's waitin' for us," Tony said.

Bruce chuckled faintly and finally pushed up off of Tony's lap. He cupped his bottom and rubbed gingerly, looking at the ground with red rimmed eyes. Bending down, he grabbed his briefs and chinos and pulled them up together. He then looked at Tony, "Okay."

Tony snorted, then grabbed Bruce and pulled him in for a one-armed hug.

Bruce didn't fight this time. After a moment he awkwardly pulled away. "You know, there are breathing techniques that'll help stop panic attacks."

"Not the point," Tony said. "Also, I thought you weren't that kind of doctor."

"I'm not. I had to try a few different things before figuring my problem out." He waited a beat and then asked, "What is the point?"

Tony gave him an irritated look. "The point is not to disappear on me a week after telling me something like that. It's a shitty thing to do."

"You were worried I'd hurt some…"

"I was worried about _you_," Tony said. "Real classy making me say it," he chided.

Bruce ducked his head.

"Plane's awaitin'," Tony said, pointing at his suit as he walked to it. He'd pretended not to see the awed look on Bruce's face when he'd said he was worried. Sometimes it still struck Tony that he was Bruce's only real friend. _That I know of_. Bruce obviously still didn't expect the friendship to last. _He'll learn_.

Bruce awkwardly followed Tony to the suit. He waited patiently for Tony to step back inside as he stood wringing his hands and looking around in a twitchy fashion from under his brow, every once in awhile absently rubbing at the sting in his hindquarters.

Looking Bruce over, Tony thought about when he told him he needed to strut. It was now that Tony decided he'd teach him how. ….after his punishment.

"Ready?" Tony asked, wrapping an arm around Bruce.

"Yea," Bruce answered shyly.

They were airborne again almost instantly. This time Bruce was calm, and Tony noted that he almost seemed to enjoy looking at the earth below.

The flight lasted only a few minutes, and then Tony flew them to a private hangar on the outer edge of the airport. He set them down at the steps of a white jet that sat waiting for them.

The pilot nodded them up the stairs, and Tony had to repeat the gesture to Bruce to get him moving. Tony had to stifle a chuckle when, upon entering the plane, a well-endowed flight attendant popped out from nowhere.

"Good evening, I'm Carrie, I'll be taking care of you gentlemen," she cooed, looking from Bruce to Tony.

Bruce actually bounced on his heels, his eyebrows momentarily very high, before he resorted back to his normal skirting behavior. He mumbled a barely audible 'Hi,' as he kept his gaze anywhere but on Carrie.

Quirking a smile at Bruce's puppy awkwardness, she turned her gaze on Tony. "You must be Mr. Stark!"

Tony stepped out of the suit and said, "I am. Have you met my friend Bruce? Say hi, Bruce."

Bruce, who'd been shuffling around the back of the plane, stopped and turned bright red. "I said hi," he said.

Tony snorted and Bruce gave him a narrow-eyed little smile.

"Well hello Bruce, can I get you a drink?"

"Water for him," Tony piped in, "he's grounded."

Tony gave Bruce a shit eating grin. Bruce sighed and grinned irritably.

Tony looked back at Carrie, "I'll have a single malt scotch on the rocks."

"Glenmorangie Highland or Balvenie Speyside?"

"One of each," he said, flopping into a reclining chair.

Carrie walked off to fill the order.

"Sit down," Tony chided, pointing to the recliner across from him.

Bruce sighed, but did as he was told.

Tony grinned at the look of discomfort on Bruce's face. As soon as his ass met the chair he was fidgeting.

"It's not that bad," Tony told him. "It was just my hand."

"Yea, well, you have a hard hand," Bruce said, still trying to get comfortable.

"Is the chair alright?" Carrie drawled out in a southern tone, setting a glass of ice water into Bruce's cup holder.

Tony shook with laughter.

Bruce looked awkwardly between Carrie and Tony. "Ah, yea. Yea. Just fine, thanks," he said, which had Tony snorting.

Carrie gave Tony a strange grin and set down both of his drinks. "I'll be back soon to check on ya."

Bruce watched Carrie walk away and then turned to Tony. "You're not making this any easier," he said in a hushed tone, leaning forward. He'd meant it to sound firm, but he couldn't keep the chuckle out of his voice.

"I know," Tony laughed. There was absolutely no shame or remorse in Tony's response.

Bruce laughed in spite of himself and shook his head. He slipped on his seatbelt as the jet taxied out.

"Thanks for coming for me," Bruce said after a few minutes of silence.

Tony swirled one of his drinks and grinned. "You bet." And then, "I need to introduce you to some resorts. Enough with infested rivers, Banner."

Bruce snorted. "I was learning." Bruce checked his pocket, and was happy to find the little medicinal package was still there.

"Learning what, that you're immune to parasites and diseases? Hey, you ever been to Anguilla? No? Bora Bora? We'll get you fixed up. It'll be fun."

"Thanks, but being a third wheel's not my idea of fun."

Tony gave him a feigned stunned look. "You could always bring Carrie."

Bruce laughed.

"C'mon, you need to live."

"I don't know that that's a good idea," Bruce said shyly.

"Oh, I see. You're just gonna stay shut up in labs your whole life? Good plan. Real fulfilling," Tony said before finishing his first drink. "Hey, I know, we could get you a tank with a wheel to run on…"

"I don't wanna hurt anybody," Bruce cut him off uneasily.

Tony threw his arms out in front of him, "That's what we're working on."

"I know…"

"You have to have hope," Tony said. "There are no hopeless situations."

Bruce gave him an uncertain look.

"Okay, save Anguilla for another time. But we're definitely racing cars tomorrow."

"Is this supposed to happen before or after…"

"After."

Bruce huffed, but Tony was happy to see that he actually looked interested.

"I bought some new cars, we'll take'em to a track. See how they handle."

Bruce smiled, and the two men conversed happily the rest of the plane ride home.

"Will Pepper be upset?" Bruce asked in an anxious way as they taxied to a private hangar.

Tony grinned at his concern. "No, you're safe. I called her over Mexico."

"I never said I was…"

"You were scared," Tony teased over him.

"Maybe that I got you in trouble."

"Yea, ok," Tony laughed, nodding with closed eyes. He knew Bruce probably really was just worried for him, and he appreciated that. But teasing him was more fun. ...and Bruce needed it.

Bruce gave Tony an amused look and rolled his eyes.

The plane came to a stop.

Tony nodded towards Carrie and whispered "Last chance" to Bruce.

"No," Bruce whispered back emphatically, an embarrassed grin on his face.

The two shared a quiet chuckle.

"Okay. C'mon," Tony said, getting up and walking to his suit as the door to the plane opened.

"Can't we drive?"

"No," Tony said playfully, "this is part of your grounding."

"You must of been a baaaad boy," Carrie chimed in from behind Bruce.

Bruce twisted around awkwardly in surprise, his eyes large and puppy-like.

"He was," Tony piped in. Bruce twisted back and mock glared at him. "But that's ok, he'll get spanked tomorrow…" Tony looked at his watch "...today, actually."

"_Tony_," Bruce hissed.

"I'd like to see that," Carrie teased.

"Oh man," Bruce said.

"Really?" Tony asked her. "I can make that happen."

"No you can't," Bruce said, pushing him towards his suit.

"Yes I can," Tony insisted over Bruce's head. He then ducked down to Bruce, "She likes you - don't you, Carrie?"

Bruce waved off Carrie before she could respond, "Could we just go now? Please?"

"Alright," Tony said, shooting another playful glance at Carrie. "Alright!" he said again when Bruce pushed him to move faster. He stepped into his suit and saluted Carrie, then grabbed Bruce and flew out of the plane. "Missed opportunity there, bud."

Bruce laughed and shook his head.

The fly home was nice. The sky was clear and the air wasn't too cold.

Bruce yawned. "Where am I…" he started to ask when they walked in the door.

"Jarvis will show you," Tony said. "Get some rest."

Bruce nodded and stumbled down a hall after Jarvis' voice.

Tony shucked the suit and quickly made his way to the bedroom. He threw off his clothes and slid into bed.

"Did it go ok?" Pepper asked, surprising him.

"I think so."

"Is he alright?" she asked, turning over and wrapping herself around Tony.

"For now," he grinned.

She gave him an amused grin.

"He might disagree tomorrow."

"You're not being too hard on him?" she asked, running her hand through Tony's hair.

"Wait. Are you gonna be the _easy _parent if we have kids?" he asked gleefully. "How did this happen?"

She laughed and playfully swatted his shoulder.

"That's better," he said, smiling at her fondly.

She raised her eyebrows at him.

"Trust me," he told her seriously.

"Well, I guess if anyone knows about this sort of thing, it'd be _you_," she teased.

"Hey! Not nice," he laughed.

She laughed and snuggled into him, and soon they were both asleep.


End file.
